The carriage wheels rolled over the stone road with a steady rhythm that should have been calming, but to Cassian it only made the return feel more real. Spring break. For most students at the Imperial Beast Academy, that meant rest, comfort, home. For him, it meant going back to Vermond Hall. Going back to the place where every corridor felt too large, every gaze too sharp, every silence heavy with the same quiet judgment he had grown up under. Home was supposed to be somewhere a person could breathe. Vermond Hall had never been that for him.
He sat with one arm resting against the window, watching the passing trees blur together, though his attention kept drifting back to the woman seated across from him. Lysandra Valecrest had not said a single word during the entire journey. Not one. She sat straight-backed, one hand resting lightly on her lap, the other near the window, as if even the air between them was something she refused to touch. Her hair was a deep crimson, rich and glossy, like polished ruby under dim light, and her eyes carried the same sharp red shade. She was beautiful in the kind of way that drew attention without effort, the kind that made people lower their voices when she walked into a room. Cold, elegant, distant. The perfect noble lady.
And his fiancée.
At least, that was what the paper said.
Cassian let out a slow breath and looked away before she caught him staring. 'Why did Father even tie me to someone like this?' The answer came to him before the thought had properly settled. Because alliances mattered. Because names mattered. Because House Vermond did not move for affection. He already knew all that. Even so, sitting across from her like this, with nothing between them except silence and obligation, made the whole thing feel even more ridiculous.
Their relationship was hollow. There was no warmth to ruin, no closeness to lose. Lysandra had never hidden what she thought of him. And really, could he blame her? He was Cassian Vermond, son of the strongest family of tamers in the world, the one heir who could not even live up to the shadow of that name.
Outside, the first glimpse of the estate walls appeared through the trees.
Cassian stared at them and felt his stomach tighten.
'Damn... I don't want to go back to that place.'
The carriage finally slowed as the tall black gates of Vermond Hall opened before them.
Even after seeing them his whole life, Cassian still had to admit the entrance of the estate looked absurd. Towering obsidian walls stretched across the grounds like a fortress built for kings rather than nobles, engraved with ancient beast crests that shimmered faintly under the afternoon light. Beyond them, he could already see the distant shape of the main manor, vast and imposing, its silver rooftops cutting through the sky while enormous banners bearing the Vermond emblem stirred in the wind.
The carriage rolled through the gates and came to a smooth stop in the circular courtyard.
Cassian stepped down first, boots landing against polished black stone, and the first thing his eyes went to was the beast that had pulled them all the way there. The creature stood tall and lean, its body as dark as midnight, its mane shifting like living shadows instead of real hair. Faint wisps of darkness curled from its neck and back, swallowing the light around it for a second before fading.
A Shadow Horse.
Rare Rank.
In most places, a beast like that would be enough to draw a crowd and leave people whispering. In House Vermond, it was normal. Just another carriage beast. Just another reminder that even the most ordinary things here were already beyond him.
Cassian stared at it for a moment, then let out a quiet breath through his nose. 'Shit... the struggle is real.'
His gaze flicked sideways toward Lysandra as she stepped down after him, her movements were graceful, as if the long ride had not bothered her in the slightest. She still had not spoken to him once. Not even a greeting when the journey began. Not even some cold formal sentence out of obligation.
Cassian resisted the urge to laugh. 'Does she hate me that much that she can't even talk to me?'
Before he could dwell on it any longer, the front doors of the manor opened and an elderly butler made his way down the steps with measured, unhurried grace. His silver hair was combed neatly back, and his posture was straighter than most knights Cassian knew.
He stopped before them and bowed.
"Young Master Cassian. Lady Lysandra. I hope your journey was peaceful." His gaze shifted toward Cassian with polite professionalism. "Lord Vermond is waiting for you, Young Master."
Of course he was.
Cassian looked past the butler toward the manor entrance, toward the towering doors and the familiar shadow of the house beyond them, and felt it settle over him almost immediately.
He had only just arrived, and already it felt like he was stepping back into the role he knew best.
The disappointment of House Vermond.
Cassian followed after the butler once he stepped inside, the polished doors closing behind them with a heavy sound. Lysandra walked a few steps ahead without looking back even once, her red hair catching the light as she moved through the hall. That small distance between them felt natural by now. It suited them too well. Even when they were together, it always felt like there was something cold and invisible keeping them apart.
Vermond Hall looked exactly how it always did.
Tall pillars, polished stone, silver-lined walls, and statues of powerful beasts placed everywhere as if the house itself had to keep reminding people what kind of family lived there. Three-headed dragons, winged lions, ancient serpents, creatures out of stories and battle records. The whole place felt less like a home and more like a monument to House Vermond's power.
And right beside him, moving with small bouncing motions across the floor, was his slime.
Cassian looked down at it for a second, then back up at one of the larger beast statues ahead. The contrast was so bad it almost became funny. Almost. "Do you think you could become something like that one day?"
The slime let out a soft "splash" in response.
Cassian gave a faint snort. "Yeah, I thought so. Well, try to hurry up anyway. It'd really help me out."
Lysandra's head turned slightly at that, just enough for him to catch the look she sent his way. Disgust. The kind of look that made it clear she found even that little exchange embarrassing.
Cassian glanced down at the slime again. "Don't listen to her. She's always like that."
As they kept walking, the same bitter thought returned to him. Low Resonance Tamer. That was the class the world had seen when he awakened, and that title had clung to him ever since like a curse. A miserable class with miserable compatibility. Strong beasts had never shown the slightest interest in him. The contracts would fail, or they would reject him outright before anything could even begin. In the end, the only beast he had managed to contract was the tiny blue creature following him now.
In a family like Vermond, that was beyond pathetic.
The butler finally stopped in front of a pair of tall inner doors and turned toward them with the same calm, unreadable expression.
"They are waiting for you inside," he said. "Please, go in."